IPL clearly the best organised league: Afridi

August 9, 2012

afridiPakistan's flamboyant all-rounder, Shahid Afridi has described Indian Premier League as the best foreign Twenty20 league that he has ever played in.

The 32-year-old cricketer, who will be playing in the Sri Lankan Premier League from August 12, said that his experience of playing in the IPL in 2008 had been the best of his career.

Afridi was responding to a question at the Moin Khan academy about the mushrooming growth of foreign T20 leagues in which international stars are becoming a necessity.

Afridi who has been part of the T20 championships in India, Bangladesh, England and Australia said his best experience came in the IPL.

"Although I played just once in the IPL but it is easily the biggest league you can play in and I enjoyed my experience. The IPL is clearly the best organised foreign league and it was a totally different experience playing in it," Afridi said.

Pakistani players were part of the first edition of the IPL in 2008, but after the Mumbai terror attacks, the same year, franchises have not signed any Pakistani cricketer for the league.

Afridi termed the absence of Pakistani cricketers from the IPL as disappointing and hoped things would change next year.

The all-rounder, who will represent Pakistan in the coming T20 series against Australia and in the ICC World Cup, also agreed that the growing number of foreign T20 leagues posed a challenge for traditional formats of the sport.

"Obviously as time passes and these foreign leagues grow, players are bound to find themselves in a position where they will have to take decisions about their careers," he said.

Afridi said the foreign leagues presented a good opportunity for top players to earn decent money and that is why they were being attracted to these leagues.

Afridi, who retired from the longer version of the sport in 2010 after leading his country in one off Test at the Lords against Australia, meanwhile pointed out that the Sri Lankan league posed a big challenge for him.

"We really don't know much about it but it will definitely help the Pakistani players prepare themselves for the coming series against Australia and the T20 World Cup," he said.

"It should be a tough league but it will put us in the proper frame of mind for the coming assignments," he added.

The Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) has under an agreement with the Sri Lankan Board allowed its players to take part in the league.



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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

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Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

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